A tall, pale-skinned vampire entered the room with an enormous amount of swagger. He had a mess of red hair, and black sunglasses over his eyes. He was dressed in a way that flattered his form, and he was astoundingly attractive, even by vampire standards. He looked somewhere around nineteen, maybe twenty. The way he rolled his shoulders as he walked told me he thought he was the gods’ gift to the world.
“That’s my cue to join the party,” the vampire sang loudly. The slightest of Irish accents tinged his tone. “Everybody, welcome tomy world.”
“Well hello, Danny,” Ivy purred. “Wish I could say that I missed you, but I didn’t.”
Danny removed his sunglasses and pocketed them in his jacket. His eyes were an even redder sheen than his hair. “That’s too bad, Ivy. I thought we had some fun back in our day.”
Chancey put his arm around Ivy’s shoulders, staring Danny down. Danny appeared gleeful at the negative attention. He wiggled his eyebrows at Chancey, who glared in turn.
Ivy rolled their eyes. “It wasn’t anything like that. Stop implying things. You’re not as hot as you think you are.”
Danny grinned. His sharp incisors weren’t as prominent as Ivy’s, but I could still see them if I looked closely. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“A demigod. Hm.” Ivy raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t know you were that special.”
“You better believe it,” Danny said. “I’m strong enough your dad was hunting my ass down back in Chicago to work for him, and he wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. It’s a good thing the Demigod Guardians picked me up. Otherwise, I’d be taking jobs for Salvatore Bianchi, and we know he doesn’t like me.”
“Ibarely like you,” Ivy shot back. “And you still gotta prove yourself to the rest of my friends.”
When Danny saw me, he stuck his tongue between his teeth.“Hello, princess.”
He pushed Marcus out of the chair beside me and promptly sat down. “I’d like to get to knowyoubetter.”
“That’s my wife you’re talking to,” Charlie warned. Marcus grumbled as he got off the floor, and Rishi whined.
“Hey, you’re welcome to join if you’d like,” Danny joked.
I could tell when a guy was an actual threat and when they were just joking around, and for the five seconds I’d known him I’d determined that Danny was just another horny toad.
I shook my head with a wry smile. “You aren’t making the best first impression.”
“First impressions are widely misleading.” Danny put his feet on the table and leaned back in his chair. “As far as I see it, I’m not joining you guys, you guys are joiningme. So what do you have to offer?”
“Us?” Kallie asked ludicrously, and she gave a short laugh. “We’re the best at what we do.”
“You want proof of my abilities? I’ll take any of you in a fight, right here and now,” Danny offered. “I don’t lose.”
“I don’t either,” Charlie sneered.
Danny gave a loud, obnoxious sigh. He took his feet off the table and let his chair fall to the floor with aclatter.“Look, none of us want to live in a world— or go to an afterlife— where Doctor Taurus is making the rules. I’ve never met the guy, but from what I’ve heard about him, I’m willing to join the rest of you crazies in going against him.”
“We aren’t crazy,” I said sharply.
“I took a look at your records, and I gotta say, the jury’s still out on the four of you not being loony,” Danny said. “But as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care much about that, because I’m nutty, too. Besides… the Warden’s gotta know there’s only one king of the world, and he already exists. Me.”
Danny was definitely a live wire. Acockylive wire. This was going to be fun. I couldn’t believe he was acting like this in the Emperor’s own palace, at his round table.
But Cassiel must’ve gotten used to Danny’s behavior by now, because he said, “I’m sure the five of you will make a great team. Danny has shown us he’s more than willing to help our cause.”
Danny gave me a wink. I let out a skeptical noise and put my head in my hand.
“What about others?” Marcus asked as he finally got to his feet. “Are more demigods coming?”
“Er… no,” Wykoff said, and she blushed slightly pink. “We’ve unfortunately lost them.”
“Lost them?” Marcus said blankly. “How do you misplace a person?”
“She’s trying to tell you they’re dead,” Danny said flatly. “The Warden’s been using The Mission to hunt down any demigods the Guardians have been hiding, and he’s exterminated them all— after draining them of their powers, of course. Besides theones he’s got on his side, which he made, the demigods left in this room are the only ones that remain in the world.”
